THE Marianas Public Land Trust’s investments totaled $115 million as of July 31, 2025, with $5.5 million in cash held in bank accounts.
Responding to inquiries from retired CNMI educator Ambrose Bennett last week, MPLT Administrator Bobbie Reyes, accredited investment fiduciary, provided updates on the agency’s financial information. She noted, however, that the data is unaudited.
MPLT’s audit for fiscal year 2024 is currently in progress and is expected to be finalized by the end of September. Nevertheless, Reyes provided Bennett with a snapshot of financial figures as of July 31, 2025.
Aside from MPLT’s cash on hand, Reyes reported that the trust earns an average of $4.4 million annually. Notably, MPLT’s income for FY 2024 almost doubled compared to previous years — $6.1 million, up from $3.4 million in FY 2022 and $3.8 million in FY 2023.
The trust’s three-year average interest income from FY 2022 to FY 2024 reached $3 million, while average dividends totaled $1.3 million. MPLT’s operating expenses average $1.1 million annually.
Reyes also said the CNMI government has fully repaid the $15 million loan MPLT issued in FY 2019 to cover expenses related to Super Typhoon Yutu. As of July 31, 2025, the government still had a $1 million line of credit with MPLT.
In addition to making distributions to its beneficiaries, MPLT also supports the CNMI government through loans for various funding needs.
Bennett thanked the MPLT board and Reyes for accommodating his inquiries.
“I truly appreciate her professionalism in expeditiously working with my Open Government request to give the NMDs the answers they so truly deserve to have regarding their money for the first time,” Bennett said.
He expressed hope that, moving forward, the MPLT board will consider making such reports automatically available to NMDs at the end of each fiscal year.
“It shouldn’t have taken this long for NMDs to have these answers about their money,” he added.
MPLT is required to submit a Citizen Centric Report each year. See https://mplt.gov.mp/reports/citizen-centric-reports
